UP Government moves SC against HC order to remove ‘name-and-shame’ hoardings

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Allahabad High Court order directing the administration to pull down posters of people allegedly accused in vandalism during the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December.

A vacation bench of Justices U.U. Lalit and Aniruddha Bose is scheduled to hear an appeal by the state government on Thursday.

The Allahabad High Court on Monday ordered Lucknow’s District Magistrate and Police Commissioner to remove the name-and-shame hoardings with immediate effect, and submit its report on the matter by March 16 which is the next date of hearing.

The court observed that the district administration had no right to put up photographs since this was a violation of one’s privacy.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Govind Mathur, had taken suo motu cognizance of the 100 odd hoardings that were put up on road crossings on Friday and the court heard the case on Sunday even though it was a holiday. The verdict, reserved on Sunday, was delivered on Monday.

Government sources had indicated that the state government would challenge the High Court verdict in the Supreme Court since Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath firmly believed that the name-and-shame hoardings would work as a major deterrent for those who damage public property.

The court had also asked the District Magistrate and Police Commissioner to explain the law under which the hoardings have been put up in Lucknow. The hoardings carried photographs of anti-CAA protesters along with their names, photographs and residential addresses and the accused alleged that the hoardings would make them vulnerable to mob attacks.

The accused have also been asked to pay for the damages to public and private property within a stipulated time, or have their properties attached by the district administration.